Selig ceremony open to public

On Tuesday, Hall of Famers Hank Aaron and Robin Yount will get some company outside Miller Park.

The Brewers are set to honor former club owner and current Major League Baseball Commissioner Allan H. “Bud” Selig with a bronze statue on the home plate plaza at Miller Park, near similar monuments to Aaron and Yount. A public ceremony is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. CT on Tuesday, and it will be a star-studded affair.

There will be no charge to attend the unveiling, although fans who intend to remain for the game will need to leave the parking area and return after the lots open to the public at 4 p.m.

“We are proud to honor Commissioner Selig for all of his efforts on behalf of the Milwaukee Brewers and Major League Baseball,” Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio said. “The Brewers and Miller Park are in this city because of the Commissioner’s vision and dedicated efforts. Just as importantly, he has remained a prominent and highly philanthropic member of our community while effectively leading Major League Baseball during his tenure as baseball’s top executive.”

The statues of Aaron and Yount were unveiled on April 5, 2001, the first year of Miller Park’s existence. The first two statues were donated by Selig’s charitable foundation.

The new statue will be cast in bronze and will measure over seven feet in height, not including the base. It is being designed and produced by Brian Maughan, who, along with Douglas Kwart, also created the Yount and Aaron statues.

Selig was born and raised in Milwaukee and headed the group in 1970 that bought the Seattle Pilots out of bankruptcy court and moved the franchise to Milwaukee just before Opening Day. Under his watch, along with then-general manager Harry Dalton, Selig helped build the Brewers into an American League power by the late 1970s, a path that culminated with an AL pennant in 1982.

The Brewers won seven “Organization of the Year” Awards under Selig’s watch, and he is credited with pushing through efforts to build Miller Park during the 1990s.

By the time Miller Park opened its doors in 2001, Selig was the ninth Commissioner of Major League Baseball. He assumed the role of acting Commissioner in 1992 and took over permanent status in 1998, helping to usher in a number of landmark changes in baseball, including the implementation of the Wild Card, the three-division format and Interleague Play. He also championed a new drug-testing program, revenue sharing among the clubs as well as ventures like MLB Advanced Media, the parent company of MLB.com, plus MLB Network and the World Baseball Classic.

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